I've pretty much decided that I'd rather shoot than ride. As much as I love my birthday gift of the Honda 919, and I have to say it's probably my best birthday gift ever, I'm going to put it on ice for the time being. That is unless there's a windfall in the next 6-9 months, I probably won't restore it and instead concentrate on firearms instead.
Reason Number One: Risk Management.
It probably doesn't make perfect sense to everyone, but Taleb has given up motorcycles, because his understanding of risk is that you shouldn't put yourself in the track of an oncoming train, no matter how fast your legs are. I already know somebody who died in a motorcycle wreck and I've wreck several times myself. Why bother?
Reason Number Two: Friends.
The fact of the matter is that I have 2 + 3 friends who ride. Two in the intimate circle and three in the close circle. But as for people who shoot, I have more. So as an activity to do with friends, I'll have more shooters than riders.
Reason Number Three: Self
The bike is all about me and my fun. Outside of that, there is no practical use for the moto. The guns, on the other hand, are more practical. If you have to ask how or why, don't worry your sheepy little head about it. OK, there's the self-righteousness of my 2A exercise. But quite frankly, I already have a modicum of motorcycle skill and I have very little shooting skill. How am I going to live with myself if I don't expand?
And so with that, I am closing the chapter on the 919, which was spontaneous to begin with.
Now that I've gotten a taste for mastering the fundamentals of pistolry, I have to make a choice of instruments. The more I shoot, the more informed I become about how and what I want to shoot. I find 22 to be brain-dead simple, and I'm actually very pleased with the 1911 conversion that I played with. But in all practicality, what I'm going to end up using in the clutch is what I want to be most experienced with on the range. Yeah I know ammo is expensive. So are golf balls.
Everybody says that a Glock 21 is the most battle hardened bullet pusher for the 45 Auto. I'm going to take them at their word. Generally speaking, I like the idea of taking an odd angle, of not wallowing in with the crowd. But when it comes to reliability and capability with shooting, I'm going to think mainstream. That said, I have only slightly above zero felt *need* for home defense and that sort of reliability, and a lot of perceived need for a high quality machine I feel like I'll never need to replace. In this regard, I intend to be a prosumer from the gate. If the learning curve is steeper, then I'm just going to have to climb. That said, I have several other options that are appealing.
I really like the aesthetics of the HK USP, and I love the idea of the ruggedness of the HK Mark 23. So right now those two are at the top of my list. The Sig 1911 is the gun I've shot the most so far, and I like it, but Sig is no longer selling firearms in California due to legal restraints they don't like. It's a beautiful piece of machinery and I like the fat safety and the feel of the whole thing.
I don't like the feel of the Glock. It's lightweight and yes that's probably a huge advantage for EDC, but I'm not going to carry every day until I move from California. Still, my prejudices aside, you cannot disregard the experience of so many Glock users. If I end up getting a compact, perhaps that will be the way to go. Then again, I think I'd much rather try a compact 9mm than a compact 45.
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